English cricket team in Australia in 1903–04
The English cricket team's tour to Australia in 1903–04 was the first time the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) took over responsibility for sponsoring and arranging an overseas tour representing England. England had not won the Ashes since the 1896 series in England. The MCC appointed Plum Warner to put together and captain a team, which was very much seen as the underdogs against Australia. Warner and his team, however, pulled off the upset the English were looking for and won the five-Test series 3–2. In the first Test at Sydney, R.E. "Tip" Foster scored 287 to set the world record for the highest individual Test innings; the innings remains the highest by a Test debutant. The matches South Australia v M.C.C. 7, 9, 10, 11 November 1903. Played at Adelaide. M.C.C. (483 for 8 declared) drew with South Australia (172 & 343 for 7) Victoria v M.C.C. 13, 14, 16 November 1903. Played at Melbourne. Victoria (162 & 210) lost to M.C.C. (443 for 8 declared) by an innings and 71 runs New South Wales v M.C.C. 20, 21, 23 November 1903. Played at Sydney. New South Wales (108 & 201) lost to M.C.C. (319) by an innings and 10 runs Queensland v M.C.C. 27, 28, 30 November 1903. Played at Brisbane Queensland (242 & 91) lost to M.C.C. (215 & 119 for 4) won by 6 wickets Northern District XVIII v M.C.C. 2, 3 December 1903. Played at Maitland. Northern District XVIII (283 & 241 for 6) drew with M.C.C. (453) Newcastle XV v M.C.C. 4, 5 December 1903. Played at Newcastle. M.C.C. (306 & 381 for 8) drew with Newcastle XV (203) First Test: Australia v England 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 December 1903. Played at Sydney. Australia (285 & 485) lost to England (577 & 194 for 5) by 5 wickets Melbourne Colts XVIII v M.C.C. December ? 1903. Played at Melbourne. M.C.C. (416) beat the Juniors (124 & 193) by an innings and 99 runs Bendigo and District XVIII v M.C.C. 26, 28 December 1903. Played at Bendigo. Bendigo and District XVIII (94 & 64 for 7) drew with M.C.C. (273 for 5 declared) Second Test: Australia v England 1, 2, 4, 5 January 1904. Played at Melbourne. England (315 and 103) beat Australia (122 and 111) by 185 runs. Ballarat XVIII v M.C.C. 8, 9 January 1904. Played at Ballarat. M.C.C. (326 and 226) drew with Ballarat XVIII (197) Third Test: Australia v England 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 January 1904. Played at Adelaide. Australia (388 and 351) beat England (245 and 278) by 215 runs. Tasmania v M.C.C. 25, 26 January 1904. Played at Hobart. M.C.C. (185 and 354 for 4 declared) drew with Tasmania (191 and 63 for 1) Tasmania v M.C.C. 29, 30 January 1904. Played at Launceston. Tasmania (141 and 259 for 2) drew with M.C.C. (353) Victoria v M.C.C. 5 February, (6), 8, 9, 1904. Played at Melbourne. Victoria (299 and 15) lost to M.C.C. (248 and 68 for 2) by 8 wickets. New South Wales v M.C.C. 12, 13, 15 February 1904. Played at Sydney. M.C.C. (190 and 461) beat New South Wales (232 and 141) by 278 runs. Western District XV v M.C.C. 19, 20 February 1904. Played at Bathurst. Bathurst XV (248 and 151 for 3 declared) drew with M.C.C. (176 and 115 for 5) Fourth Test: Australia v England 26, 27, 29 February, 1, 2, 3 March 1904. Played at Sydney. England (249 and 210) beat Australia (131 and 171) by 157 runs. Fifth Test: Australia v England 5, 7, 8 March 1904. Played at Melbourne. Australia (247 and 131) beat England (61 and 101) by 218 runs. South Australia v M.C.C. 12, 14, 15 March 1904. Played at Adelaide. South Australia (259 and 77) lost to M.C.C. (154 and 184 for 1) by 9 wickets. External sources * CricketArchive match lists Further reading *H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962 *Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877–1978, Wisden, 1979 *David Frith, The Golden Age of Cricket 1890–1914, Lutterworth, 1978 *Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993 *Plum Warner, How We Recovered The Ashes, Longman, 1905 *Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951 *Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1905 1903-04 Category:International cricket competitions from 1888–89 to 1918 1903-04